May 16, 2025
Terramation is a new burial option for Georgia residents. But what is it?
Human composting, an ecological alternative to burial or cremation, will become legal in Georgia beginning July 1.
Governor Brian Kemp signed Senate Bill 241 into law May 9, making Georgia the 13th state to legalize this practice.
Human composting, known as terramation, transforms the body into soil through decomposition. The body is placed in a vessel with plant-based materials such as straw, alfalfa, and sawdust. These components, along with the natural decomposition process, facilitate the body’s breakdown into soil. This process takes approximately nine weeks.
“The microbes in our body —the things that transform the food we eat into the energy we use—when we die, flip on a dime,” Micah Truman, CEO and founder of Return Home, a funeral home specializing in terramation, told 11Alive news.
“They turn and transform us, and gently return us to the earth. Our process simply makes that microbial process go faster,” Truman added.
When the process is complete, the funeral home returns the soil to the family, as they would with cremated remains. But unlike ashes, the soil is fertile.
Truman recalls a customer whose deceased daughter loved bees. The mother placed her daughter’s composted remains into bags and distributed them to friends, asking them to plant a flower that would feed the bees.
“It was stunningly beautiful,” Truman told 11Alive news.
Michelle Arivette, a funeral director at A.S. Turner and Sons in Decatur, Georgia, tells Atlanta News First that she has seen a surge in interest in human composting.
The funeral home will offer the newly legalized service through a partnership with Recompose, a Washington-based funeral home that operates one of the nation’s first human composting facilities.
“Recompose is thrilled by the passage of the human composting bill in Georgia. This new green funeral option allows people to return to the earth after they die, and to nourish gardens and forests. We are proud to see the movement continue to grow so beautifully,” Katrina Spade, founder and CEO of Recompose, told Atlanta News First.
RELATED CONTENT: Funeral Worker Arrested For Castrating Corpse Of Sex Offender
